The Avengers of Arda
by Barefoot XO
Summary: Concerned that the Avengers might eventually rally the sort of support to threaten even one so great as him, Thanos makes use of an Infinity Stone to hopefully shatter the team beyond all repair. His actions will shape the fate of two realities.
1. Lost in the Aether

**The Avengers of Arda**

I don't own The Lord of the Rings or the Avengers. They belong to John R.R. Tolkien and Marvel Comics respectively.

* * *

 **Chapter I: Lost in the Aether**

"These Avengers may yet prove troublesome." Thanos' bass rumble was contemplative as he considered the issue before him. The Avengers, in and of themselves, were no real threat to his power. Even the likes of Thor and the Hulk paled before his power. Still, Thanos had not survived for so many centuries by underestimating his foes. Each of the Avengers, particularly Captain America and Iron Man, had the capacity to draw yet more superhumans to their banner. And the fact was that a sufficiently powerful team could actually be a threat to him. They weren't there yet… but it was within them to do so.

"Perhaps we should simply kill them, Master? Surely that will end the threat?" Corvus Glaive, known to some as the Other, spoke with a chilling rasp that made many lesser men quail. Thanos was not a lesser man.

Thanos considered the idea briefly. He certainly was not afraid to bloody his hands or the hands of his various disciples. "No, Corvus, that will not do. To kill the Avengers would rally all the rest of their people against me. No. Better to introduce confusion in their ranks. I believe that the best road forward is in banishment from this reality."

Gamora's smooth voice penetrated the lingering silence. "Will not the Asgardians react to the loss of their favoured son?"

Thanos leveled an approving smile in his daughter's direction. "Very good, Gamora. Yes, they will. Which is why Thor will not be sent with them. Better to have scrambling about attempting to save his precious team."

"But will not the Asgardians assist him in finding his lost team. Depending upon where you send them, they will be easy enough for Asgard to reach with the Bifrost repaired." Nebula opined.

"The Bifrost is not an issue. The reality I have in mind is beyond the nine realms, which places it out of the reach of the Bifrost." Thanos silenced Nebula's reply with a raised hand. "As for Odin, he will not lift a single dainty finger to help any mere mortal, even ones his son calls friends. He would sooner risk his life to save his horse then lift a single finger for a mortal."

Corvus Glaive licked his lips nervously as he worked up the courage to bring the uncomfortable subject. "My master, your power truly is boundless, but is it sufficient to fling these pitiful beings to a realm that even the Bifrost cannot reach?"

The remainder of Thanos' court froze at that question. To question Thanos' power so blatantly was incredibly risky. Thanos rewarded the Other's audacity with a throaty chuckle. "Yes, Glaive. Such a task is beyond even me. But have you noted the time?"

"The Convergence of the Nine Realms…"

Thanos offered another proud grin to Gamora. "Precisely. With the Convergence occurring, the Aether is available once more. We simply have to get to it before that troublesome fool Malekith does."

"It would be an honour, Father."

"I'm sure that it would be, Gamora, but you will not be accomplishing this mission. This is a mission that needs to be done in stealth. Your appearance is much too exotic to be missed on Earth. The same is true of you, Nebula…" the Titan whispered, offering a subtle head-shake to his other daughter. "No, for this I would send you, Maximus."

The human-looking servant stood tall and proud when he heard his name being spoken. "It is my honour to serve you, Lord Thanos. Perhaps, when it is done, I might remain on Earth and see to my brother?" More then one of Thanos' court shuddered at the hatred that the man inflected into his brother's title.

Thanos stared at the man for a long moment. "The Aether first, Maximus. Then, if I am pleased, I will consider your request. Your presence on Earth might prove to be a convenient distraction, in addition to the loss of the Avengers."

"Your graciousness is truly limitless, my Lord."

* * *

Maximus sneered at the human children that were gathered about the Aether's hiding place. Oh how he longed to simply strike them down and have done with. But no, that would not do. Thanos had ordered a mission of stealth. He was here on business… pleasure could come later.

Maximus slipped past the children without too much trouble, his mind powers easily clouding their microscopic little minds. And then he was into the hidden pocket between realities where the Aether had been hidden. Bor had thought himself so clever. Really the Asgardians should be thanking Thanos for sparing them the horror of what the dark elves would have done to them if they had gotten the Aether first.

A gesture from Maximus saw the Aether emerge from its prison and converge into the top of Maximus' scepter. He glanced at the blood-red gem with covetous love and briefly considered attempting to keep it for himself. He quickly put the notion aside. Thanos was not one to be trifled with. "And now, my sweet Aether, we must away to our master. He has use for you…"

* * *

Thanos held his new scepter aloft, smirking faintly at the sight of it. It was truly magnificent. The loss of the mind gem scepter still rankled something awful. He was still working on isolating where it had been hidden after that patsy Loki had bungled the invasion. Still, the reality gem scepter was a lovely bit of compensation. He was actually on Earth, at the moment, though heavily cloaked by magic to avoid Heimdall and any other meddling watchers.

Thanos slammed the scepter's handle into the ground and focused his concentration on the task at hand, trusting Maximus to keep unfriendly eyes looking elsewhere. The first he located was the one called Hawkeye. The mortal had been under his influence through the mind gem. That was one. In quick succession he located the Black Widow, Captain America, Iron Man and the Hulk. He considered simply sending them on, but no, that was not confounding enough.

Thanos focused his will and picked out five random individuals from the target reality that he would send the Avengers to. Five lives for five… that would make the magic easier because the exchange was equivalent. It also had the benefit of sowing the most confusion.

* * *

Steve Rogers was driving down a street on his motorbike, exploring his new modern world. A red haze flashed before him and suddenly an elf was sitting astride the motorbike that Rogers had been riding. Having never driven a motorbike before, it is perhaps understandable that the elf's end was swift and messy, smashing headlong into an oncoming truck. So ended the life of Thindrulas of the Woodland Realm.

* * *

Natasha Romanoff was sitting opposite Nick Fury, the Director of SHIELD, discussing the possibility of recruiting Captain Rogers into STRIKE. A red haze again descended and the woman was replaced by a blond man in armor, bleeding from numerous wounds. Fury paused, torn between shock at the man's appearance and outrage at his trust spy's disappearance. Finally reason won the day and Nick called for medical to treat the man. After all, dead men told no tales…

* * *

Clint Barton was asleep in his bed, his wife beside him, when the red haze descended. Laura Barton's outrage at the strange little man in her bed was a sight to behold. Gimli's sputtering apologies, in every language he knew, did little to ease her temper.

* * *

Tony Stark and Bruce Banner were discussing the incident with the so-called Mandarin when the red haze descended upon them too. And so, in the sitting room of Stark Tower, Aragorn, son of Arathorn, and Khamûl, of the Ringwraiths, appeared across from one another. It was mere seconds before both reached for their swords.

* * *

Oops…

Hope you'll all enjoy.

Jasper


	2. The Captain of America

I don't own the Avengers or the Lord of the Rings. They belong to Marvel Comics and John Tolkien respectively.

* * *

 **Chapter II: The Captain of America**

Steve Rogers had been riding his motorbike when he was taken from Earth. It should then come as no surprise to anyone that he stumbled and fell to the ground when he arrived at his destination. Steve had fast reflexes, granted, but even they were only worth so much when faced with a sudden change of position and equilibrium that you aren't expecting. Still, even as he hauled himself back upright after basically kissing the dirt, Steve had to take a few seconds to overcome his utter confusion.

Before this, Steve had been riding down a paved street in New York. Now he was on a lightly trodden pathway in a dark forest. It was in that moment that the sights and sounds began to really penetrate his mental fog again. There was a fierce battle going on. On one side were monsters of some sort who were attacking ferociously. A small group of people with pointy ears were defending their position from the monsters. Another creature, small and ugly, appeared to be sneaking off in the confusion.

Steve found himself facing a choice. As he saw it there were three options. Option one was to help the monsters to attack the defenders. This held little appeal to Steve. Frankly the monsters bore a faint resemblance to the Chitauri, which was enough to make him less inclined to aid them. Option two was to help the defenders to defeat their apparent enemies. This held more appeal. The defenders, despite the pointy ears, resembled ridiculously pretty humans and were obviously outnumbered, calling out to Steve's instinctive desire to champion the underdogs.* The third option was, of course, to stay out of it and act like the situation was none of his business.

In the end, Steve chose to help the outnumbered humanoids. That decision snapped him back into action. While he was unarmed, Steve had picked up a fair bit of unarmed combat when fighting with the Howling Commandos. That, combined with his extraordinary strength, allowed him to survive the fight long enough to get hold of a weapon. A single, over-powered kick to the chest sent a monster flying, its weapons dropping to the ground as it flew. The monster's armour saved its life, but Steve had what he wanted… the monster's shield. The shield was not going to be nearly as good a throwing tool, nor was it anywhere near as indestructible as his real one, but Steve's fighting style was shield-centred, and so it made him feel better.

A slam of his stolen shield knocked another monster to the ground as Steve swept up a dropped sword. He knew instinctively that the sword was both a necessity and a problem. The shield Steve was carrying was vastly inferior to his own shield, and so he needed a more standard weapon to compensate. On the other hand, Steve's fighting experience was limited to hand-to-hand, his shield and standard military firearms. He was faintly wishing that he had spent more time learning from Hawkeye than the Widow, since the Battle of New York. He could clearly see several bows on display in the fight, but was all but certain that he would have even more trouble with them.

A slash of his sword ended the life of another monster, even as he slammed his shield into the gut of another. It was times like this that he was grateful for the gift of the super soldier serum. If he was facing this battle with a normal body, his woeful sword skills would have seen him dead. Instead, he was able to clumsily beat back attacks from some frankly more skilled opponents simply because he was strong enough to power through an otherwise effective defence.

Steve glanced about, trying desperately to keep a handle on his situation. His erstwhile allies were now three people strong, led by a fierce, red-haired woman. They had been five when he had first arrived, but the enemy was too many to save everyone. The enemy was now down to about half a dozen. More than a dozen others had already fallen on that side.

His allies were a pair of archers, including the redhead, and a swordswoman. Steve managed to link eyes with the swordswoman and wordlessly conveyed his thoughts. She nodded, apparently understanding his wordless expression, and the two of them deliberately threw themselves between the monsters and the archers. This would hopefully allow the archers to be more effective. While Hawkeye had taught him that an archer could be very effective at close range if they were trained for it, the fact was that they were far better off at long range.

The gambit paid out rather well, allowing the four remaining fighters to kill all but one of the monsters that they were fighting. The swordswoman was engaging the last when Steve heard the hint of a noise over at his right. A glance showed that there was another monster, previously unaccounted for, aiming a bow at the swordswoman. Steve reacted on instinct, flinging his shield fiercely at the enemy archer. The result left the monster pinned to a tree**, his bow snapped asunder by the fierceness of Rogers' throw.

Steve turned back to his companions, happy to see that the swordswoman, in addition to being alright, had managed to dispatch her opponent while he had dealt with the archer. The redheaded leader was shouldering her bow as she walked over to him, speaking in a language he could not understand. Apparently recognizing that he could not understand her, she spoke again in what was recognizably a different language. This process continued through two more languages until she finally hit upon English. "I am Tauriel, daughter of Thindrulas. I am the Captain of the Guard in the realm of Thranduil the Elvenking."

Steve attempted a reassuring smile. "I'm Captain Steve Rogers of America. If might ask, Ma'am. What exactly are you?" The answering frown made Steve continue quickly. "No offence meant, Ma'am. I've just never met someone of your race before. And I've never heard of the kingdom of Thranduil either."

The woman continued to frown deeply before she answered, her voice laced with suspicion. "I have never met a man, nor any other race, that did not know of the Elves. You are now in Greenwood the Great, which is under the rule of King Thranduil. We are Elves, as I said. You have been of great aid to us Steve, son of Rogers, Captain of America. Because of that, I will ask that you join me and come before my King, to answer as to why you are here in the Greenwood."

Steve hesitated slightly, sensing that being caught trespassing in this King's realm was not going to be taken well. "And if I refuse your invitation, Ma'am?"

The elf smiled faintly. "Your presence and assistance has likely saved my life and that of my kinsmen. At the very least, you saved the life of Lisiriel. Because of that, I will allow you to leave if that is your wish."

Steve sensed that there was something else behind her smile, some hidden consequence he was missing. In the end though, it mattered little. Visiting the Elvenking was as good a first step as any towards getting back to home from whatever the Greenwood was. "It would be an honour to meet with your King, Ma'am."

Tauriel's smile became slightly more genuine. "Then come, Captain. We should be able to reach the King Thranduil by nightfall…"

* * *

* Steve's automatic siding with the beings that look the most human may seem rather racist, but realistically, it happens in fiction. When confronted by fellow humans (or people who look a lot like humans) facing an alien race they know nothing about, the natural response is often to help the humans. In Stargate SG-1's 'Forsaken', SG-1 automatically assumes that the humans are the good guys, at first. They later discover they were mistaken and correct it, but it was still there response.

** Think of when Aragorn gets pinned by the Uruk-Hai shield in _The Fellowship of the Ring_

And now we see what's happened to Cap so far.

Jasper


	3. Along Came a Spider

I don't own The Avengers or The Lord of the Rings. They belong to Marvel Comics and John Tolkien respectively.

* * *

 **Chapter III: Along Came a Spider**

There aren't many people who could manage to make the transition from sitting at a table and discussing things with their superior, to riding a horse in the middle of battle without getting killed soon after. Luckily Natasha Romanoff was one of those rare individuals. While she was not a particularly competent rider, by any means, she did manage to grab the beast's reins and maintain control for the thirty-odd seconds that it took her to dismount and dodge away from the flailing hooves.

It took the Widow all of a moment to gather the basics of what was happening around her. Some sorts of monsters, vaguely similar to the Chitauri, were engaged in a battle with humans. The humans were mostly mounted upon horses, while the other creatures were far more numerous.

Natasha's side of the conflict was cemented beyond doubt when one of the monsters charged at her, its stinking breath nearly as dangerous as the flailing sword that it was swinging about. Natasha was decidedly unarmed, for her, with only a garrote wire up one sleeve. Even as she braced herself to meet the monster, she silently promised herself to bring her gun to her next private meeting with Fury, regardless of how twitchy it would make security.

A simple sidestep put the Widow behind her opponent, swinging handily on up onto the larger creatures back and getting the garrote wire around its throat. The beast was inhumanly strong, but Natasha was the best that there was at what she did. A little bit of leverage was all she needed to bring the dumb bruiser down.

In the confusion of the battle, Natasha quickly rifled through the downed monster's pockets, acquiring a couple of large knives to supplement her admittedly pitiful arsenal. Even as Natasha engaged her second monster, she noted that the men around her appeared to have the bulk of the creatures on the run, taking them apart with spears and arrows as the fled from sword range. Natasha, meanwhile, economically dispatched her second opponent with her knives and then waited to see if anyone else would be dumb enough to engage her again. None of the beasts lived to try it.

With the death of the monsters, the tall horsemen wheeled about to meet the strange woman in their midst. One man, probably the leader, spoke to her in a strange language. Apparently Natasha's look of confusion was clear to him, because he quickly changed tongues. Thankfully it was English. "Are you alright, Milady?"

The Widow actually flinched from the shock. It had been a long time since anyone other then Thor had called her milady, barring the odd undercover assignment. Was she in Asgard? "I'm fine, thank you. Where exactly am I?"

The blond man frowned slightly, obviously confused that she didn't even know where she was. "You are in the Kingdom of Rohan, Milady, close to the Fords of the Isen. I am Grimbold of Grimslade. May I ask who you are and what your business is in Rohan?"

"I'm the Widow." The codename came to her far easier then her own. It was only after she said it that she realized that the title meant nothing to the men before her. "Natasha Romanoff, is my name," she added awkwardly. "As for Rohan, I am here by mistake. I became separated from my friends on the road and came upon you here."

The tall man stared at her for a long time, apparently deciding that she spoke the truth. "I offer my condolences on the loss of your husband, Widow Natasha. Sadly, that sort of situation is becoming more common here in Rohan of late. The accursed orcs of Saruman are becoming a pestilence upon this land, surpassing any in recent memory."

Natasha did not allow herself to show a reaction to the false assumption regarding her title. Instead she took in the name orcs, assuming that the name went with the monsters that she and the men of Rohan had dispatched. "Thank you," she spoke softly, guessing by the lack of women that this was probably a male-dominated society. She was the Black Widow. Blending into the woodwork was what she did.

Grimbold smiled at her easily, before really looking her over and frowning again. "Perhaps you might like to borrow a traveling cloak, Milady? It would appear that you are ill-garbed for this country."

Natasha was just grateful that he chose to ignore the fact that she didn't have any luggage with her. Hopefully he assumed that it was with her lost companions. She accepted the offered garment with demure thanks.

"It is not great trouble, Lady Natasha. I must say that my men and I were impressed with your easy dispatch of the orcs. You put many a shield-maiden to shame with your skills."

"Captain Grimbold. We cannot find Lord Théodred amongst the bodies."

Grimbold turned, in shock, to face the younger man who had spoken. "I clearly saw Lord Théodred fall from his horse, Hilbard."

The youth shrugged. "I saw it as well, Captain, but he is nowhere to be found."

Grimbold excused himself from Natasha's presence briefly to personally lead a frantic search of the bodies for the mysterious Lord Théodred. Apparently that man was very important in Rohan. Unfortunately, Natasha had no more idea of where he might be then she did of where the hell she was. Rohan certainly didn't mean anything to her.

Grimbold returned shortly and offered a hurried, but still rather courtly, bow. "My apologies, Widow Natasha, but my commander has disappeared during the battle. My men and I must ride for Meduseld at once so that we might report the situation to the king and return to investigate in force. I would recommend that you ride with us for your protection."

Natasha felt the distinct temptation to snort at the Jekyll and Hyde nature of the sexism in Rohan. On one hand, the men apparently were ready and willing to accept that a woman could kick some serious ass. On the other hand, they were still treating her as if she was made of spun glass. She held her smile inside. Their willingness to dismiss her because of her gender would work to her advantage as it always did. Men didn't really appreciate just how dangerous she could be until it was waved in their faces. "My thanks, Grimbold. That would be most appreciated." Natasha silently thanked her experience with Thor for helping to prepare her to talk with the people of this society.

Grimbold nodded his satisfaction and turned to his men. "We ride for the Golden Hall."

Even as Natasha was helped onto a borrowed horse, she silently wondered where she really was and if she was truly alone…

* * *

And here we go again.

Jasper


End file.
